Zone
Each Zone is a tile on the Phoenix Map. There are a total of 49 (7x7 grid) capturable Zones, that are often the showcase of player versus player battles in order to capture them for their own faction.
Iconization
If opening the Map in the Pipboy, each Zone will be hidden by default. In order to see a Zone permanently on your Map, you will have to visit it at least once. This will also give you a one-time Experience reward of 1000 XP, meaning unlocking the whole Map, will reward you with a total of 49000 Experience.
Once unlocked, a Zone might display a variety of icons, depending on what the current Status of that zone is.
Severity
| 1-2 | 3-4 | 5-8 | 9-16 | 17-32 | 33-64 | 65+ |
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Zone Control 
Flags will be displayed even on Zones that currently have an active Zone Control running on them. The bigger and more dangerous the color, the more enemies are inside that zone.
Combat 
Swords will be displayed even on Zones that you do not own. It signifies presence of combat. The bigger and more dangerous the color, the more enemies are inside that zone.
Recon 
Binoculars can only be seen in Zones that you own, or directly adjacent to them. It signifies presence of enemy players. The bigger and more dangerous the color, the more enemies are inside that zone. Icons can be manipulated by good players. For example, a player that is sneaking, will not pop up as a Binocular. Players underneath the Zone, in the sewers, or inside a dungeon on that Zone, will also not be visible. Since the Recon symbol needs some time to update, they might slip the exact moment when it updates, not showing you their presence.
Heat 
Fire will be displayed even on Zones that you do not own. It signified presence of something happening there. Even NPCs that fight against each other might trigger Heat. The bigger and more dangerous the color, the more things are happening inside that zone. Since NPCs battling it out might also trigger Heat, it is not always a clear sign of enemy players. The special thing about heat however is, that even interactions inside Dungeons are recorded into the heat-value as well - unlike the combat and recon icon. So it might give you a hint that someone is currently clearing a dungeon.
Anomalous Zone
A Radiation icon will appear on the zone that is currently filled with Anomalies and Artifacts. Great danger resides in that temporary zone, but you can also get great rewards in the form of artifacts in there. The bigger and more dangerous the color, the more anomalies and artifacts you will find inside.
Danger
Zones further outside, are less dangerous then the ones towards the center. The central zone is called Hospital, infamous for not only the Technical Tier 3 Workbench, that is needed to craft a lot of end-game gear, but also the massive amount of mutants and centaurs, inhabiting it. Making just moving across the zone a feat of itself. Zones further out, usually have less NPC's in both quantity as well as danger, though they also usually lack in the loot-department. Venture as deep as you can, but not too deep, as you might end up with a swift death.
Faction Gates
There are a total of 6 zones, that are treated as Faction Gates. Those Zones are on the edges of the map, and are the starting point of each faction's expansion. While outer zones are much less dangerous then inner zones, another faction's gates especially can prove very deadly, as they have a lot of guards to defend their members.
Zone Control
Zone is a feature that constantly changes, and information on this page might be outdated frequently. In such a case, it will be updated whenever possible!
A major part of the game is its Zone feature. It consists of battling out other players in a PvP battle to capture Zones for your faction and take them away from your enemies. Having more Zones is beneficial for both the amount of Recon you get, as well as to funnel more resources into your Faction, helping in turn to keep prices of items low, and the money you receive from selling items high. It also gives the advantage of you being able to capture Outposts, which come with a whole set of their own benefits, like respawn points, storage and fast-travel spots. Zones inhabited by your faction also spawns guards, which in turn help you fight NPC's, as well as enemy players.
Capturing a Zone
Once a Zone starts in a given Zone, all the flags in that zone turn white. A white flag belongs to no faction, and contributes points to none. You need at least 2 players to capture a flag, though a single enemy in its vicinity is enough to contest it. Once you have taken a flag, it turns into the color of your faction. Holding flags will constantly give your faction points in that zone - and the more flags you have, the more points you get. At the end of a Zone, points are distributed across all participants of the encounter. Depending on how many total players participated in it, as well as your flag-score, your faction will get some amount of points on that zone for the battle.
If at the end of the day, your faction will come out on top, it will receive the zone.
